$2USD or more

about

Convict Paradise is is a collaborative side project spearheaded by Underlander and featuring local bands Miserable Little Bastards, McAlpine's Fusiliers, and Taylor Project. Culminating in a special show at the Old Melbourne Gaol, "Convict Paradise" also has a new CD with a mix of traditional and original songs, linked by the theme of Victorian prisons.

contact / help

'Twas night, and the moonbeams palely fell
On the gloomy walls of a cheerless cell
Where a captive sought a brief repose
From the bitter pangs of his waking woes

Over the dark blue waves the mighty deep
His spirit soared in the dream of sleep
To each well-loved spot of his native shore
Where joyous he roved in the days of yore

On a lonely cot in a peaceful dell
A home of bliss where no woe could dwell
An old man gazed on the western sky
As it slowly sank from his haggard eye

So mingled in the dreamer's mind
The present with the olden time
But over each scene a shadow threw
All seemed so real, yet so untrue

And next he saw a youthful pair
A gallant boy and maiden fair
And not in vain for surely they
Were happy as a summers day?

Over the dark blue waves the mighty deep
His spirit soared in the dream of sleep
To each well-loved spot of his native shore
Where joyous he roved in the days of yore

‘Twas now the dreary prison bell
Echoed through the captive's cell
He knelt -with fervency he prayed
For the narrow boundary of the grave

Track Name: The Outrage at Mount Beckworth

I cannot speak with this rope around my neck
Take it off - I’ve got a deal to say
The outrages I’ve suffered in this colony
There’s no show for a man in this country
Then I’ll go to hell
And dance a final jig
In this cell
I’ll use the foulest words against your pale god
And dance to the hum of my home land
You say I’m of the lowest and most savage kind
I’ll whistle and sing this tune until the end
Then I’ll go to hell
And dance a final jig
In this cell
I’ll whistle this tune until the end
I’ll whistle this tune until the end.